


Dial M For Mystery

by storyhaus



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 15:12:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13837407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyhaus/pseuds/storyhaus
Summary: Nick's receives several calls that he ignores making Morgan do some investigating of her co-worker.





	Dial M For Mystery

DIAL M FOR MYSTERY

Morgan looked over as Nick's phone rang.  
"You going to answer it?"  
"I know who it is." Nick replied.  
Okay...he didn't even look at the number...  
"Got a blood trail." Nick said bringing her attention back to the job at hand.

Morgan looked over an hour later as Nick's phone rang again, he didn't look at the number or answer it this time either.  
"I'm gonna check the rest of the house for the weapon." He said and left the room.  
Their victim had been left with an odd shaped bruising and wounds.

After going through the kitchen he checked the bedrooms but came up empty so he went into the bathroom.  
His phone rang for the third time in as many hours and he smiled as he searched.  
The toilet caught his eye and he realized the tank lid wasn't sitting flat, he pulled gloves on and lifted the lid off.  
"Well this is my lucky day." He smiled and reached in to remove the item he found and placed it into a bag on the vanity to dry.  
No prints on the lid,maybe...he opened the clothes hamper and found a wet, bloody towel.  
His eyes went to the sink and he pulled his luminol spray out to check for blood trace.  
"Nothing...okay, door number two..." He said to himself and sprayed the bathtub, smiling as it lit up.  
"Hey, nothing in the kitchen." Morgan said from the doorway.  
"I got that from the tank." He pointed to the unknown item.  
"What is it?" She frowned.  
"Not a clue."  
"And that was in the hamper." He held up the bagged towel, "we got blood on it and in the tub."  
She helped him get swabs and photo's, they found a partial print on the hot water knob.  
They took it all back to the lab dropping the various items with the techs to run their tests on then looking for Russell to update him.  
Nick's phone rang and he checked his watch then pulled it out.  
"I need to take this so I'll catch up." He said stopping in an empty lab.  
3:14, Morgan pursed her lips as he left her and she checked her own watch.  
Spotting Russell she filled him in.  
"Good work, keep me updated." He requested as his own phone rang.  
Morgan located Nick with Mandy going through AFIS, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System.  
"There's enough for a match but so far no hits and we ruled out the vic himself." Nick told her.  
"Doc Robbins is ready for us." Morgan read her text.  
"I'll let you know if we geta hit." Mandy smiled at Nick.  
"That ya darlin'." Nick teased and left with Morgan.  
"Don't you have a girlfriend?"  
"Mandy and I do that all the time." He chuckled and smiled, recalling how he once had to sing for his results.  
"You are one big flirt Nick Stokes." Morgan shook her head but smiled.  
"Nope, just having a good day."  
He had found five bucks in front of his tire wheel when he left for work and used it to buy a cup of his favorite coffee on the way in and he had hit all green lights too so he was happy.  
They walked into the morgue where Doc Robbins had their victim on the table.  
"So what can you tell us about Owen Taylor Doc?" Nick asked.  
"Somebody was pissed, there are ten wounds. These are the marks we found when David cleaned him up."  
"Looks like a match to whatever it is you found in the tank." Morgan replied and snapped photo's.  
"I can tell you he had sex hours before his death." The coroner added.  
"Not at his place, sheeets were clean."  
"Maybe not in the bed." Morgan suggested.  
"Guess we'll go take a second look. Thanks Doc." Nick nodded and led Morgan out, his phone ringing and he ignored it once again.  
Morgan frowned and glanced at the clock as they passed it, four a.m.? Weird. Is it Lauren? Does she check in every hour? Nick isn't controlling. He doesn't exhibit that kind of behavior.  
They met Mitch back at the apartment and using the ALS, Alternate Light Source, found a number of stains of the couch, the floor and kitchen counter.  
"Hasn't this guy ever heard of Chlorox wipes? Ick!" Morgan commented.  
"We need to take swabs see if we can identify his partners." Nick sighed and they got to work swabbing all the surfaces.

Nick's phone rang at five a.m. as he was looking into the microscope and he didn't answer it this time either.  
"Where are we?" Russell asked before Morgan could say anything to Nick.  
"Vaginal stains on the couch and floor match. The kitchen counter is another story." Nick told them.  
"We need to identify the other contributor." Russell said as Nick's cell rang.  
"Hey Jim...okay, we'll be right there." Nick hung up, "victim's girlfriend is at PD."  
"I'll grab a swab." Morgan nodded and they left.  
He was relieved Nick could be paired with anyone on shift and work well, he was also glad Greg would be back from his seminar this week and that Sara's two weeks in Paris visiting her husband was almost over too because they were a little behind but Conrad had vetoed overtime for them.  
Hopefully they can wrap this case up by end of shift and since I can't do anything on the case Finn and I are working until we identify a suspect I can give them a hand.  
He set about entering their evidence in CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System.

"I can't believe he's dead." Connie Brooks wiped her eyes with a tissue.  
"We're very sorry Miss Brooks, where were you between ten and midnight?" Brass asked.  
"I was working at the Orpheus until 4:30 this morning!" She snapped then blew her nose, "I didn't kill him, I loved him!"  
Nick looked at Morgan, both thinking he was loving someone else while you were at work.  
"Miss Brooks, we need to geta DNA sample from you. It'll help us eliminate you." Nick pulled out a swab.  
Connie nodded and opened her mouth and Nick ran the swab on the inside of her cheek.  
"Find out who did this." She requested, eyes filling with tears.  
"We'll do our best." Morgan said and they headed back to the lab  
Morgan heard Nick's phone ping letting him know he had a message, he'd obviously turned it off for the interview.  
Five after six, she checked her watch, who the hell is calling him every hour on the hour? the only exception was the 3:14 he answered.  
Russell motioned them inside the lab they were working in when Brass called.  
"I ran your DNA samples. The couch and floor are a Connie Brooks."Russell read from the results paper.  
"The vic's girlfriend." Morgan answered.  
"The counter sample belongs to a Jamie Bond. Lost list of solicitation charges."  
"Jamie Bond? Really?" Morgan rolled her eyes.  
"I kind of like it." Nick teased, "I'll have Brass bring her in." He pulled his phone out and texted Brass.  
"Do we know what the murder weapon is yet?" Russell asked.  
"It's an antique butter worker." Hodges said from the doorway and held it up.  
"You say so, looks like a wooden paint tray with roller to me." Nick chuckled.  
"Well, you see, the churned butter was placed in the wooden tray and the lever, or roller Nick, was worked back and forth. The buttermilk liquid would drain out the small hole in the side." Hodges explained.  
"How'd you figure out what it was?" Russell asked not admitting he was impressed.  
"I have my sources." Hodges smiled mysteriously.  
"So should we assume it was a weapon of convenience? I doubt the prostitute brought it with her." Morgan smirked.  
" 'Cause all the 'johns' want that fresh buttermilk afterwards." Nick answered with a relatively straight face.  
"There was also blood trace soaked into the wood, the vic's." Hodges added.  
"Hey, Miss Bond, was just brought in for soliciting. I love when they come to us." Brass smiled as he stepped inside.  
"Go see what she has to say." Russell said and the trio headed to the station.

"Why don't you go in, I'll observe." Nick told Morgan who shrugged and followed Brass into the interrogation room.  
"He paid once then thought he could get a freebie! Ain't no one get a free ride on Jamie! I hit him with that thing until he stopped moving then I washed my hands in the tub and hid that thing in the toilet before I grabbed a wad of cash of his dresser and split."  
A signed and sealed confession, just the way we like 'em, Nick smiled.  
Nick called Russell and let him know they had their killer.  
"Will do boss." He hung up as Morgan joined him.  
"Russell want us back?"  
"Wrap up the paperwork." Nick nodded as they left the police department.  
Nick's phone rang and he checked it them smiled and answered.  
"Hey Gris." He smiled, "Thanks. Not too bad. Hey Sar. Thanks. Not a whole lot, just wrapped a murder case. Probably. Sleep for a while then have a nice dinner with Lauren. I have tomorrow off. Okay, thanks for calling guys. Thanks again. Bye." Nick chuckled and hung up.  
"I can't believe Sara's in Paris." Morgan sighed wistfully.  
"I'd love to see Gris teaching." Nick smiled fondly.  
"Hey NIck!"  
He looked over and saw Lou Vartann.  
"I'll be in in a minute." He told Morgan and walked over to the detective.  
She looked back to see Nick and Lou share a laugh as they shook hands.  
I am surrounded by attractive men, she smiled, turned back and headed down the hallway.

Nick said good-bye to Lou ten minutes later and entered the lab.  
"Nick, you had some deliveries." Judy, the front desk receptionist told him motioning him over.  
Nick saw a fruit basket and another basket of goodies which he took to his truck then went to find Morgan.  
"Stokes." Nick answered his phone with a smile.  
'Hey Nicky.'  
"Hi Cath."

Morgan exited the evidence room where she'd boxed up everything, all that was left was the paperwork.  
She walked down the hallway and saw Nick talking on his cell phone so she went over to him.  
"Okay, thanks again, love you too. Bye." He hung up. "Ready to finish up and head home?"  
"More than ready." She nodded and followed him.

An hour later they were finished with their reports which along with the police ones would go to the District Attorney for charges to be filed.  
"I am heading home to bed after I walk Sam." Nick yawned as he stood.  
"I'll drop these of with Russell." Morgan offered.  
"Thanks, see you in a couple of days." He bade and departed.  
Morgan dropped the reports in Russell's IN box then headed to th Audio/Visual lab.  
Finding it empty she sat down and started typing.

Finn was walking past, relieved she and Russell had finally gotten a break on their case.  
Glancing into the A/V lab she stopped upon seeing Morgan.  
Curious she walked over.  
"Nick's cell?"  
Morgan explained about Nick's mysterious phone calls.  
"So reverse look up...midnight...Bill Stokes, his father?" Finn suggested.  
"Marianne O'Brien at one a.m., Cate Tisbury at 2 a.m." Morgan read.  
"Bill Stokes again at 3:14." Finn noticed.  
"That's the one he took." Morgan nodded.  
"Four a.m. was Carrie Lewis, then Tess Holmes and a Jeannie Stewart each hour after that. So his dad called twice then five women called him?" Finn frowned.  
"Sara and her husband called at 6:38. Catherine called him too...that's who he was talking to earlier."  
"Did he seem upset to talk to his dad, Sara or Catherine?" Finn asked.  
"No, just the opposite." Morgan shook her head.  
"What are you two up to?" Russell asked coming inside, "Why are you looking up Nick's cell records?"  
"Hey, isn't that Greg's number that just popped up?" Finn pointed out.  
"Yeah, it is." Morgan nodded and told Russell why they were looking into it and feeling guilty for invading his privacy.  
"Texas welcomed a new resident on this date." Russell smiled checking his watch.  
"It's Nick's birthday?!? Why didn't he say anything?" Morgan asked.  
"None of the people he's worked closest with over the years are here at the moment." Russell pointed out.  
"We should take him to breakfast." Finn said.  
"Let's go." Russell nodded and shut down the computer.

"Somebody's at the door, hold on a sec?" Nick requested and opened his door to find Russell, Finn and Morgan, "Uh...hey guys, what are ya'll doing here?"  
"Treating you to a birthday breakfast." Russell answered.  
"Uh, okay, come on in. I'm talking to my mom so give me a few minutes." He motioned them inside and went to the kitchen to finish his call.  
"Very bachelor." Finn said amused seeing the leather couch.  
Russell sat down on the couch and pet Sam while Morgan checked out the baskets sitting on Nick's table.  
"Okay mom, I'll call you later and I'll call and thank them too for the baskets." Nick replied as the doorbell rang, he answered it to Hodges, Archie and Mandy. "I gotta go, I now have a houseful of comapny. Love you too mom. Bye."  
"We came to take you to breakfast..." Hodges looked at the others already there.  
"So did we." Finn smirked.  
"Oh." Hodges frowned.  
"No reason we can't all go Goose." Nick clapped his shoulder.  
"Okay, good." Hodges grinned.  
"Hey, give Doc and Super Dave a call too. Jim and Lou also." Nick said.  
Russell placed the calls and all promised to meet them at the pancake house they were taking Nick to.  
"Can I talk to you a minute Nick?" Morgan requested.  
Russell ushered the others out sensing what she needed to tell him.  
"I owe you an apology. I looked up your phone records to see who's calls you kept ignoring."  
"I like my privacy, you should have just asked me. And I wasn't ignoring them. A long time ago my family and I worked out a system because I work graveshift. Every hour on the hour one of my siblings calls to wish me a happy birthday, except my mom who calls at the time I was born. They sort of joke that it's appropriate I work grave since I was born so late at night." He chuckled.  
"3:14. That was your mom." Morgan smiled.  
"Yeah. MY oldest brother Billy, then my sisters Marianne, twins Cate and Carrie, Tess and finally Jeannie." Nick explained as he ushered her out the door, "Keep an eye on things boy." He told Sam and locked the door.  
"Wait! You have one brother and five sisters?"  
"Yep." He smiled, "They sent me the baskets."  
"Fruit and Texas logo stuff. I saw them on the table." She nodded.  
"Can't have too much fruit or Texas gear." Nick grinned.  
"Hey Nick?" Seh stopped him.  
"Yeah?"  
"Happy Birthday." She hugged him.  
"Thanks." He grinned hugging her back, "Hey Russell, what the hell, call Conrad too."  
Russell laughed and did so then they all got into Russell's truck and Hodges car and headed to breakfast.  
They're not the family I celebrated with last year...but that's okay, it's a new year, a new family to spend my birthday with. he mused as they left his house.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday George Eads!


End file.
